Under The Lights Festival Dominated By James Clemens
MADISON- Near perfect weather conditions met each of the 30 schools represented and the 600 athletes participating in the 2022 Under The Lights Festival cross country meet held at Palmer Park and hosted by James Clemens.
“The night running weather was perfect with 50-55 degrees,” said Drew Bell head coach of the James Clemens program and meet director. “Besides all of the lights from the nearby baseball/softball and soccer/football fields lit up, we had 12 sets of LED lights we rented to light up the course along the way. Running Lane provided all the mile markers, banners, starting line flags and blow-up finish line arch.”
In the races, the host Jets won all four divisions claiming first place trophies for boys and girls in both varsity and junior varsity divisions. The top 15 finishers in each race were named All-Elite and received a dri-fit award T-shirt for their efforts. In all, the winning Jets secured 24 All-Elite spots on the night.
In varsity girls, the Lady Jets of James Clemens claimed seven All-Elite spots including all five of their top five runners placing among the top nine finishers. Emma Bothern was tops for the Jets placing second with a time of 19:30.49. She was followed by 5. Claire Colo, 20:08.61 (PR), 6. Kayla Willett, 20:21.44, 7. Makenzie Parker, 20:25.97, 9. Brooke Bogardus, 20:57.21 (PR), 13. Adrianna Gadomski, 21:40.56 and 14. Ashlyn Diehl, 21:42.00. As a team, the Lady Jets had a 20:16 average.
The final varsity girls standings were 1. James Clemens 29, 2. Father Ryan, Tenn. 42, 3. Florence 88.
In varsity boys, the electric night was presented with an electrifying individual victory by Luke Alverson who finished with a time of 15:47. The Jets had six among the top nine finishers and set a new school record team average of 16:07 with a 40-second team spread from 1-5 top finishers. The remaining All Elite finishers included 3. Dylan Dryer, 15:49.69 (PR), 5. Cole Robinson, 16:09.28, 7. Garrett Gallagher, 16:20.58 (PR), 8. John Luke Stovall, 16:28.51 and 9. Ronan Barnes, 16:35.07 (PR).
The top three team scores included 1. James Clemens 24, 2. Father Ryan, Tenn. 52, 3. Florence 100.
The girls junior varsity was a dominate performance by the host Lady Jets who claimed five All-Elite spots. Andie Howard was second overall with a time of 22:32.52. She was followed by 4. Ivana Rubio, 23:10.20 (PR), 7. Brittain Mattingly, 24:29.76, 8. Lillie Hartley, 24:54.36 (PR) and 12. Jasmine Phillippi, 26:37.83 (PR).
The final team scores in girls junior varsity were 1. James Clemens 19, 2. Belgreen 45, 3. West Limestone 63.
The Jets of James Clemens took the top spot in the boys junior varsity race claiming six among the All-Elite positions including the top three spots individually. The overall winner was Hudson Parker completing the race at 18:50.61 (PR). His teammates followed were 2. Michaell Class, 18:51.24 (PR), 3. David Sanchez, 19:00.72, 9. Luke Bogardus, 19:47.17 (PR) and 13. Thomas Freeman, 20:30.32 (PR).
Final team scores included 1. James Clemens 28, 2. Florence 51, 3. Belgreen 77.
Additional photos available in the printed edition of the Madison Record available late Wednesday.
